Pied Nus – London W1U

It’s calling itself a “pop-up” but thankfully there’s plenty time to pop by

Happy New Year! Hopefully you all enjoyed the festive period and are thrilled to have me back, blogging away. This is a little gem from 2013, but far too good to skip over, so let’s reminisce.

After a couple of entertainingly inventive cocktails at near-by Purl, I sauntered into Pied Nus with my favourite couple, Alex & Claire. The table was set for a brilliant evening. Literally. With breadsticks and everything.We started with some ‘Bacon and Onion Brioche, Black Onion Seed Flat Bread, Milk Loaf, Humus’ (£4.5) to whet our appetites, and then ordered almost everything on the menu. Dishes started arriving so quickly we had to ask for a pause to allow us to catch up. But that’s as far as it goes in terms of a negative. The meal was superb.
A dainty plate of ‘Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, Pepper, Black Olive’ (£12) was light yet rich – the lightly seared tuna soft as butter, accented with fragments of ripe black olives. The ‘Baby Artichoke, Wild Mushrooms, Pine Nuts‘ (£7.5) was autumnal and earthy – the burnt shallot adding a caramelised sweetness.
‘Pickled, Raw and Charred Vegetables, Celeriac Oil with Truffle‘ (£9.5) sounds like something I would rather not eat but I would certainly order again. The fresh, clean flavours of the pickled vegetables clensed the palate and tickled the tasetbuds. An odd looking dish of ‘Slow Cooked Duck Egg, Potato, Belper Knolle‘ (£6.5) was not a winner in my eyes – once we had mixed the runny yolk into the sawdust-like potato it all tasted a bit mushy. But perhaps it was just outshone by what followed.
The ‘Scallop Ceviche, Fennel, Cucumber‘ (£12.5) was fragrant and light and succulent all at once – possibly my favourite dish of the lot – whilst the ‘42 Degree Confit Salmon, Cauliflower, Pink Grapefruit‘ (£8.5) was a beatutiful piece of fish, cooked just-so, so as to appear raw, and decorated with crisp cauliflower.
The strong flavours of mackeral in the ‘Charred and Tartare of Cornish Mackerel, Beetroot, Apple‘ (£8.95) were not to my liking but both Alex and Claire protested at my criticism, so I stand corrected. The dish was lovely. The ‘82.2 Degree Spiced Lamb Neck, Aubergine, Cous Cous‘ (£11.95) was our final dish. The small cut of lamb was soft to the touch, beautifully matched with the tomato studded couscous, soaked in meaty gravy.
After such an incredibly array of dishes, I felt we needed to try the desserts, despite the fact that nothing on the menu really took our fancy, so we ordered two – an incredibly chocolatey ‘Chocolate, Chestnut Frangipane, Caramel Ice Cream’ (£8.95) and the ‘Sorbets‘ (£4.95). After consulting with our waiter, our best guess at the flavours of sorbet was raspberry, white peach and pear although nobody was quite sure!?! Regardless, we enjoyed them all.

Thought it’s calling itself a pop-up, Pied Nus is here til the summer and hopefully will seek out a permanent venue soon after. But just in case, make sure you pay it a visit – it’s well worth it.